Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Cheap Pop and Cheap Heat from Smark Out Moment! Each week, we break down the world of professional wrestling and examine two of the polar opposite ends of the spectrum: one thing that was by far the worst thing (Cheap Heat) and the best thing (Cheap Pop) to happen over the past 7 days in sports entertainment. So, what went down this week that we loved and hated about the business?



We often hear that the Intercontinental title has lost prestige, and it is hard to argue that this year has done much to correct that notion. However, I have a lot of hopes for the belt's future regardless of who ends up with it next week.

Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles are, arguably, two of the best wrestlers of the present day, so that we get this match is great, but their character work is what takes it to the next level.

Hot headed AJ Styles has all the talent in the world, but will cheat and take the easy route if he feels like it, whereas Daniel Bryan wants to defend it every single week in an open challenge format. I am happy with either of these being the title scene.

Styles as a weasel champion sounds fun, but Bryan doing what John Cena did with the United States title is equally appealing.

In summary? We, the fans, shall be the winners either way.



This past week saw Jaxson Ryker come under heavy criticism from fans and wrestlers alike following a, perhaps, poorly thought out tweet in praise of the current US president.

While, as Kevin Owens chimed in, Ryker is more than entitled to have his opinion, that he included forgotten no more, his wrestling catchphrase, led to concerns over whether he was attempting to use a national tragedy to generate an angle. Moreover, the tweet led to an old post being dug up in which he criticized the Black Lives Matter movement, and told everyone to watch 12 Years a Slave in order to see how good they now had it.

The Forgotten Sons were well on their way to being contenders in the tag division, but whether Ryker's actions will derail the plans remains to be seen.

Vince McMahon is a friend and supporter of Donald Trump, so it seems unlikely that he would get upset over that aspect of it, but, as we are so often reminded, WWE is a publicly traded company.

While I am doubtful that he would get fired, it would not surprise me if WWE forgets about that push for a while…


So there you have it, my two choices for the week. What do YOU think are the Cheap Pop and Cheap Heat this week in professional wrestling? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!